In his native Sierra Leone, Mamadu Balde's life was thrown into disarray when a rebel group ransacked his hometown and separated its residents by ethnicity.

Rebels burned his house and separated Balde from his parents and one of his sisters. He never saw them again. In 1999, he fled to New York City, seeking asylum from the ongoing civil war at home.

Mamadu BaldeBalde family photo

Now, the 44-year-old sits in detention at the York County Prison, a man without a country.

In June, amid a crackdown on illegal aliens, the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) detained him--for the second time--with an eye toward deportation.

Sierra Leone, however, has repeatedly declined to authorize his return. The civil war ended in 2002 but the West African nation still struggles with corruption, a faltering economy and the aftermath of the 2014 Ebola epidemic.

"He's tried repeatedly to get travel papers--Sierra Leone won't release them," said Balde's attorney, Witold Walczak. "There's no question: He can't be deported and yet ICE still takes him into detention."

The ACLU of Pennsylvania filed a lawsuit Tuesday seeking the immediate of release of Balde, who previously spent nine months in prison in 2012 only to be released because Sierra Leonean authorities couldn't confirm his citizenship.

Even prior to the recent ICE raids, many refugees slipped through the cracks of America's complex immigration system. Balde, like a number of those from war-torn countries, is in a kind of immigration limbo with no legal status in this country and no ability to return home.

A spokesman for ICE declined to comment on pending litigation.

The agency has contracted with York County to house detainees at the prison for more than a decade.

York County spokesman Mark Walters said the facility housed 624 ICE detainees, as of Tuesday, although he noted that the figure fluctuates constantly. On Monday, for example, it housed 630.

Mamadu Balde came to New York City in 1999, fleeing civil war in Sierra Leone. His case has wound through the immigration system since.Wallace McKelvey | WMckelvey@pennlive.com

A prison official said she could not release Balde's mug shot, per an ICE policy. Balde and the other detainees do not appear on the prison's inmate roster.

Balde's original asylum request was denied and, for nearly two decades, his case has wound its way through the immigration system. Since being released from prison in 2012, he's lived and worked in West Virginia with his wife, who is an American citizen.

In 2006, Balde was convicted of a minor vehicle offense in New York, for which he paid fees and fines. Four years later, an Ohio court sentenced him to 90 days imprisonment for misuse of a credit card but most of that sentence was suspended.

According to the ACLU, which took up his case this summer, Balde complied with every ICE order and paid taxes on all of his wages. He provides financial support for his teenage nice and nephew, who were orphaned by Balde's other sister, but he's unable to continue that support from prison.

"Mr. Balde suffered real tragedy in his African homeland," said Ashley Lively, his immigration lawyer, in a written statement. "This plainly unconstitutional detention is incredibly unfair to Mr. Balde, who has been a caring husband, devoted uncle, and productive employee for many years."

Walczak, who serves as the ACLU of Pennsylvania's legal director, said previous court rulings allow for up to six months of detention for immigrants in Balde's situation.

"The court has said, if you can't do it within six months, you need to let the person out," he said. "The question is: is there a reasonable likelihood the person will be deported in the future? If the answer's no, there's no reason to keep the person."

It's unprecedented, however, that the same individual would be detained multiple times when they have no place to be deported to. This time, Walczak said, Sierra Leone notified ICE that it could not take Balde within a week of his June detention.

"It's like [ICE is saying], 'we're going to hold you as long as we can, or at least until a court says otherwise'," he said. "There's no earthly reason why this man should be in detention. [This] is blatantly unconstitutional."

ICE's activities drew increasing scrutiny this year as it ramped up raids, including in Harrisburg, and deportation activities under the Trump administration.

Earlier this year, another York County Prison detainee--35-year-old Washington Klever Calle Delgado--drew headlines for a similar situation. Calle Delgado, who overstayed a work visa in 2013, was held for more than a month as ICE figured out where to send him.

Despite holding citizenship in both Ecuador and Spain, the process for Calle Delgado was a protracted one.

Yolanda Compton, his aunt, told PennLive that ICE deported her nephew to Spain about a week after his story was covered by local news media and picked up by USA Today.

"It's not good at all," she said, of the situation, "especially when he didn't do anything bad. It's not fair."

This article was updated to include information about the number of detainees held at York County Prison.